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Halifax Panthers hope to progress further in the Challenge Cup as they take on Featherstone Rovers in the Fourth Round

In-form Featherstone Rovers make the short trip over to The Shay this Sunday as they face their Championship rivals Halifax Panthers in the Fourth Round of the Challenge Cup.

The teams last met on October 2nd 2021 in the Betfred Championship play-off semi-final with Featherstone taking the spoils with a 42-10 win and earning their spot in the 2021-million-pound game to face Toulouse Olympique, which they ultimately lost with the French side getting promoted into the Super League.

Rovers come into the game as favourites on the back of a four-game unbeaten run in the league whilst Halifax Panthers have only won once in the last three games.

Challenge Cup games are always unpredictable and form often goes out of the window.

The Panthers will be looking to better their 2021 efforts as they were knocked out in the First Round at the hands of the Batley Bulldogs.

Last year, Featherstone progressed as far as Round Three where they were knocked out by the Betfred Super League’s Hull FC.

Both teams enter Sunday’s game with injury doubts, but with the depth of the Featherstone squad, Brian McDermott will have the easiest task out of the two coaches when it comes to team selection.

Halifax recruited well in the off-season, but with early injuries to the squad, Simon Grix will likely have a headache when it comes to picking his side for the clash against the Rovers.

Panthers may benefit from a week’s rest as their recent league clash against Workington Town was called off due to health and safety concerns following Storm Eunice.

Can the Panthers cause an upset in the Fourth Round and build some momentum to take into their league games? They have nothing to lose going into the Challenge Cup clash and Simon Grix’s team will not take any chances during the game for granted.

All the fixtures for the Challenge Cup’s Round Four:

Batley Bulldogs vs Royal Navy (27/02/2022 13:00 KO)

Doncaster vs Whitehaven (27/02/2022 14:00 KO)

Hunslet Club Parkside vs Sheffield Eagles (27/02/2022 14:00 KO)

Workington Town vs Dewsbury Rams (27/02/2022 14:00)

North Wales Crusaders vs Hunslet (27/02/2022 14:30 KO)

Halifax Panthers vs Featherstone Rovers (27/02/2022 15:00 KO)

London Broncos vs Bradford Bulls (27/02/2022 15:00 KO)

Rochdale Hornets vs Barrow Raiders (27/02/2022 15:00 KO)

York City Knights vs Newcastle Thunder (27/02/2022 15:00 KO)

Leigh Centurians vs Widnes Vikings (28/02/2022 19:45 KO)

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